The furry belly draggers of Ridgefield will again seek to bring honor to their owners at this year’s Oktoberfest wiener dog race.
Put on your dancing shoes and raise your glass for Ridgefield’s fifth annual Oktoberfest this Saturday. Food and entertainment are the highlights of the fundraising festival taking place at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex for the second year.
“We’re excited to not be in a construction zone this year,” events coordinator for Ridgefield Main Street Marykay Lamoureaux said. “There is a plaza area just by left field designed for an event just like this.”
New to Oktoberfest this year is a costume contest at the main gate and throughout the event.
“It’s all traditional German attire,” Lamoureaux said. Attendees can check in with their costumes at the main tent and get their photo taken.
Back for another year is the fan-favorite weiner dog races at 4 p.m. Registration is $5 and ends at 3:30 p.m. Unlike last year, the dogs will be racing on natural grass this year instead of the astroturf.
Event-goers can also expect a day of entertainment on the main stage with the Vancouver German Band and Steven Knape, Accordion Player. Along with this, the Biergarten is host to its own events such as Michael Fischer Oompah Band and David Cooney. Lamoureaux said beer lovers can expect six local beers on tap, along with one cider, a rootbeer and three local wines.
For the second year, Ridgefield Oktoberfest is sharing a location and date with “Experience Ridgefield,” an event for all ages with activity including a carnival with inflatables and a game truck, food and craft vendors, potato sack races, bingo, a Mr. Potato Head contest and a corn hole tournament.
Experience Ridgefield is hosted by the Ridgefield School District. Lamoureaux said the idea behind hosting the events on the same day was to raise attendance of both events as Oktoberfest is Ridgefield Main Street’s only fundraiser of the year.
According to Lamoureaux, Ridgefield Main Street is an organization dedicated to preserving the history and integrity of downtown Ridgefield while also making it beautiful. She explained how funds raised from Oktoberfest go to beautification projects such as new paint, awnings and year-round hanging flower baskets.
“The flower baskets have gone from just springtime flower baskets to all year round,” Lamoureaux said. The funds raised also support the “Main Street Moola” program which provides a currency that only works in Ridgefield.
“It’s a joy to see people walking down the street into their city park,” Lamoureaux said. “I love seeing people enjoying our beautiful town and area. We have a lot of things to do in Ridgefield and nice people who like gathering together and events like this are a great place to enjoy the community.”
